Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 96.33% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of IONQ opened at $22.92 on Monday. IonQ has a fifty-two week low of $6.22 and a fifty-two week high of $54.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.30 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total transaction of $37,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 421.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Company Profile

IonQ, Inc engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems in the United States. It sells access to quantum computers of various qubit capacities. The company makes access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Braket, Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, and Google’s Cloud Marketplace, as well as through its cloud service.